Monday, November 2, 2009

Job 33

1 "But now, Job, listen to my words;
pay attention to everything I say.

2 I am about to open my mouth;
my words are on the tip of my tongue.

3 My words come from an upright heart;
my lips sincerely speak what I know.

4 The Spirit of God has made me;
the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

5 Answer me then, if you can;
prepare yourself and confront me.

6 I am just like you before God;
I too have been taken from clay.

7 No fear of me should alarm you,
nor should my hand be heavy upon you.

8 "But you have said in my hearing—
I heard the very words-

9 'I am pure and without sin;
I am clean and free from guilt.

10 Yet God has found fault with me;
he considers me his enemy.

11 He fastens my feet in shackles;
he keeps close watch on all my paths.'

12 "But I tell you, in this you are not right,
for God is greater than man.

13 Why do you complain to him
that he answers none of man's words?

14 For God does speak—now one way, now another—
though man may not perceive it.

15 In a dream, in a vision of the night,
when deep sleep falls on men
as they slumber in their beds,

16 he may speak in their ears
and terrify them with warnings,

17 to turn man from wrongdoing
and keep him from pride,

18 to preserve his soul from the pit,
his life from perishing by the sword.

19 Or a man may be chastened on a bed of pain
with constant distress in his bones,

20 so that his very being finds food repulsive
and his soul loathes the choicest meal.

21 His flesh wastes away to nothing,
and his bones, once hidden, now stick out.

22 His soul draws near to the pit,
and his life to the messengers of death.

23 "Yet if there is an angel on his side
as a mediator, one out of a thousand,
to tell a man what is right for him,

24 to be gracious to him and say,
'Spare him from going down to the pit;
I have found a ransom for him'-

25 then his flesh is renewed like a child's;
it is restored as in the days of his youth.

26 He prays to God and finds favor with him,
he sees God's face and shouts for joy;
he is restored by God to his righteous state.

27 Then he comes to men and says,
'I sinned, and perverted what was right,
but I did not get what I deserved.

28 He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit,
and I will live to enjoy the light.'

29 "God does all these things to a man—
twice, even three times-

30 to turn back his soul from the pit,
that the light of life may shine on him.

31 "Pay attention, Job, and listen to me;
be silent, and I will speak.

32 If you have anything to say, answer me;
speak up, for I want you to be cleared.

33 But if not, then listen to me;
be silent, and I will teach you wisdom."

Side Notes:

vs 13 Being informed brings a sense of security. It's natural to want to know what's happening in our lives. Job wanted to know what was going on, why he was suffering. In previous chapters, we sense his frustration. Elihu claimed to have the answer for Job's biggest question, "why doesn't God tell me what is happening?" Elihu told Job that God was trying to answer him, but he was not listening. Elihu misjudged God on this point. If God were to answer all our questions, we would not be adequately tested. What if God had said, "Job, Satan's going to test you and afflict you, but in the end you'll be healed and get everything back"? Job's greatest test was not the pain, but that he did not know why he was suffering. Our greatest test may be that we must trust God's goodness even though we don't understand why our lives are going a certain way. We must learn to trust in God who is good and not in the goodness of life.

vs. 14-24 Elihu's point was that God had spoken again and again. He spoke in dreams and visions (33:15-18), through suffering (33:19-22), and by mediating angels (33:23-24). Job already knew that. Elihu accused Job of not listening to God, which was not true.

2 comments:

Feldman Family said...

Good Morning! So sorry I didn't get around to commenting this weekend...the weekend totally got away from me! No excuse though! Anyway...I like what you both had to say on the previous chapter and I think it continues into this chapter. Elihu must have been real close to Job, in that he could repeat everything Job had said. I wonder how he waited so long to give Job his opinion of the situation...it seems like the way he comes across he must have been bursting at the seams to get his say in there. I agree that he came off sounding prideful...in Proverbs 13:10 it says, "Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice." I think Elihu needs to be careful at how he comes off sounding...but he did bring up some very good points...even if they didn't apply to Job and even though Job already knew all of it. And with the points he made it only goes to show that you don't have to be older to be wise. I think that verse in Proverbs could apply to all in the book of Job...everyone thought that they knew what was best and why Job was suffering...and it became a big quarrel among them. Also, yesterday in church our pastor hit a very good point. We are doing a sermon series about living inside out and yesterday it was titled Inside Out Proclaim. And he just talked about while we may not say anything with our mouths we are constantly saying things with our actions, with the way we dress, etc... Then he went on to touch on the subject of going through trials and how we react to them. His passage came out of John 9...about the blind man that Jesus healed. He was talking about how this man was blind from birth and was it the fault of a sin that the baby did or his parents why he was blind. He didn't think so, but couldn't be sure 'cause we don't know why some suffer and others don't. But then he went on to say that God puts us in situations or allows things to happen and we need to realize that He is using us to make His works bigger. That we need to realize that He obviously trust us to handle it and be a witness for him and we should consider it an honor to be going through it. Now...that's not easy...when you are going through a terrible suffering, but just realize that God is there with you...He has not left you and He is using this to advance His Kingdom. When you really think about it, it is amazing that He does use us to spread His good news. We just need to be ready to step up to the plate and take one for the team! This life is so short, although it sometimes doesn't seem like it, and we will look back on this season of life that we are in and smile because we made it through and we are that much better because of it. I'm just so glad that we have Job to read and look into his life a little. He is a great example of a man of God and great example of how to get through the hard times. Hope you all have a great Monday!

P.S. I also liked verse 28...that's why I made it our verse of the week. :)

Unknown said...

I don't have a lot to add to what Ali already said. The only other thought that really stuck out to me was with regard to vs.28. Suffering can rob us of everything, but our soul. Suffering cannot touch our soul, but how we respond to suffering is a clear indication of where our soul is and that was the reason God allowed Job to suffer. I really liked the observation in the comments that we have to be able to trust in the goodness of God when nothing seems to be good in our lives and boy is that tough to do. Pray for our nation as they vote on the lives of unborn babies this week.